1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the cooking of large or small quantities of relatively large pieces of meat, such as top round, hams and other types of meat having a pre-cooked weight of approximately ten pounds. More particularly, the invention provides a control system for a cooking unit, and a method using the cooking unit, for slowly cooking large quantities of food product.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A cooking unit for rapidly cooking large quantities of meat, on the order of 400 to 500 pounds at a time, is disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,402,300, issued Sept. 6, 1983. While that cooking unit works extremely well for its intended purpose, the rapid cooking of the meat tends to cause up to 30 percent shrinkage of the meat during a cooking operation. Preparing the meat and mounting it in the cooking unit for a cooking operation also can be a time-consuming procedure. Further, since the food cannot be prepared and mounted in the cooking unit the night before, because of health, fire and sanitation requirements, the preparation and mounting of the food in the cooking unit must be accomplished in the morning of the day that the food is to be cooked and served. Accordingly, to reduce shrinkage during cooking and enable the meat to be prepared the night before, a need exists for a cooking system in which the food can be prepared and mounted in the cooking unit the night before, and then slow-cooked during the night unattended, with final cooking, if necessary, being accomplished the following morning. A primary purpose of this invention is to provide such a system, and more particularly, such a system in which the food is slow-cooked, held at a preset internal serving temperature if cooking is completed before serving is to begin, and then serving the food at the desired time.